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Executive producers of The Tunnel launch independent online film platform

The executive producers of the film The Tunnel have announced they will launch an online film platform for independent filmmakers.

DLSHS, the digital agency who helped create the innovative marketing and distribution campaign of The Tunnel, will launch eCut in 2012.

Ahmed Salama, co-creator of eCut with Valeria Petrenko, told Encore: “Ecut is many things – firstly, it is an independent film distribution platform. What we’re trying to do is give the power to the filmmakers and get their films out there the right way. I think there’s a whole generation of filmmakers evolving who don’t have the right tools to get their films out there.”

There will be three possible monetisation methods. Firstly, a filmmaker can set a price they like as pay-per-view.

The second is that eCut is ad supportive, where the filmmaker receives a share of the ads placed alongside their project.

The third method of monetisation is through donation – the film is free but, in a manner similar to crowd-sourcing, the audience can contribute any amount they feel it was worth after watching the film.

For Salama and Petrenko, another big factor is about owning the audience relationship.

“Let’s say a producer puts their film out on a VOD platform and they get a million downloads,” said Salama, “they don’t get to own that audience, they don’t get to up-sell or market to that audience. eCut is more than just watching the film – it’s about a whole experience, and participating in the film from start to finish. So this is for filmmakers to sell soundtracks, DVD and Blu-ray discs, bonus content like director’s narrations and behind-the-scenes footage and generate awareness.”

The site will be integrated with social media. As Salama points out, films rely on word of mouth to spread. Films on the eCut platform will be able to be screened in Facebook with frictionless sharing – when you share, people will be able to see what you’re sharing.

Filmmakers could also have world premieres with Q&A sessions. Or alternatively with the ability to geo-block all the way down to cities, eCut will be able to work with film festivals for online premieres.

The beta program will launch in early 2012 and eCut are in the process of acquiring about 25 films to launch with. “We will select a few titles to push and that’s because we want to set the tone and that means quality content, but we can’t predict what kind of content will flourish on the market – eCut is all about an open market.”

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